Page:Masterpieces of the sea (Morris, Richards, 1912).djvu/73

MASTERPIECES OF THE SEA And turning from these introspective sonnets, what a contrast to open the pages of her buoyant and self-forgetful fun, which was not so much an imitation of the "Alice" books as a continuation of them. She had absorbed and given out to her children all that "Alice" held; and, wanting more, she made it—made it with an invention and gaiety which ought to have won the heart of "Lewis Carroll" himself. The illustrations by her daughter, Anna, are another evidence of the gifts the mother fostered in that busy and happy household.

Indeed, Mrs. Richards is so much of a part of the intellectual career of Mr. Richards, so inwoven in his fibre, that to describe her is further to personify him.

But even so rare a flower, so beautiful and difficult of growth, as a home like his and hers, must fade. It seems a waste of nature to rear such associations, such delicate and fragile ties, mingled of high aims and affectionate hopes, fair counsels and firm convictions, and then let them dissolve. How can a delicate creation like that arise again in a world which opposes simplicity 45